Identification card



Dec. 24,1968

D. F. HANNON IDENTIFICATION CARD Filed Aug. 14, 1967 Fully. LENB and ,6i Hflln'nh Fig.3

' INVENTOR. DONALD F. HANNON A TTORNEYS United States Patent 3,417,497IDENTIFICATION CAR Donald F. Hannon, Willoughhy, Ohio, assignor toLaminex Industries, Inc., a corporation of Ohio Continuation-impart ofapplication Ser. No. 373,664, June 9, 1964. This application Aug. 14,1967, Ser. No. 662,841

14 Claims. (Cl. 402.2)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Improved identification card in whichprinting is disposed between two layers of bonding material.

Cross references to related applications and patents (1) This is acontinuation-in-part of Ser. No. 373,664, filed June 9, 1964, by DonaldF. Hannon under the title, "Identification Card, now abandoned in favorof this continuation-in-part.

(2) Patent Re. 25,005, entitled, Identification Card, issued July 4,1961, to Donald F. Hannon.

(3) Patent 2,984,030, issued May 16, 1961, to Donald F. Hannon.

(4) Patent 3,309,983, issued Mar. 21, 1967, to L. L. Dresser under thetitle, Continuous Plastic Laminator.

Background of the invention Field of the inventi0n.-This inventionrelates to identification cards and more particularly to laminatedidentification cards in which a photograph of the identified person,together with identifying indicia, is contained within a clear,protective, plastic envelope.

This invention is an improvement of the identification card disclosed inPatent Re. 25,005, issued July 4, 1961, to D. F. Hannon, under thetitle, Identification Card. The perferred card disclosed in the reissuepatent consists of a central paper core upon which a photograph ismounted and identifying indicia is printed. The paper core is sandwichedbetween two layers of a plastic material sold commercially under thetrademark Mylar which layers are bonded to the core by laminae ofpolyethylene. A grid-like pattern is printed on the inner surface of oneof the Mylar layers and superposed over the photograph.

In US. Patent 2,984,030, issued May 16, 1961, to D. F. Hannon, animprovement over the reissue patent is described and claimed wherein thegrid is printed at the interface between the photograph and the plasticbonding material and preferably on the plastic bonding material. Thepurpose of the location of the grid on the bonding material is that ifheat is carefully applied to the laminated structure with the heatexactly controlled so that the Mylar does not decompose in any way, butthe polyethylene does soften, one is still unable to tamper with thecard because the printed grid will be distorted or destroyed.

Cards of these prior patents have enjoyed tremendous commercial successand due to this success have been exposed to persons who would choose totamper with them. With this exposure, artful techniques have beendeveloped where even these cards of these prior patents may have, onoccasion, been altered. With the present invention, a construction hasbeen devised where even these artful techniques are ineffective. Thepresent card is so susceptible to detectable changes resulting fromattempts to tamper with the card that many prior known card formingtechniques are not satisfactory and it is necessary to use novelprocessing techniques for making the card.

In the preferred construction, a thin paper core sheet is used and asuitable heat softenable resin bonding material is applied to bothsurfaces of the paper sheet. Identifying indicia is printed on the resincoating and an identifying photograph is adhered to it. This laminatedcore is then sandwiched between a laminated protective coveringconsisting of a sheet of Mylar and a resin bonding material of heatsoftening characteristics identical to the characteristics of the resinbonding material coating the paper core sheet. Where a grid is desired,it is printed on the inner face of this protective covering and orientedover the photograph.

With the resultant card identifying printed photo indicias are suspendedin the resin bonding material. Thus, in the finished card, all printedindicia and the photograph are disposed between two layers ofthermoplastic bonding material which have been heat bonded together sothat the identifying indicias are encased Within the bonding material.Any application of heat or solvent to separate the card causes the resinto flow sufficiently to distort and destroy the grid pattern and theprinted identifying indicia.

Since the improved structure is highly susceptible to any heatapplication in the event of tampering, the successful lamination of anidentification card presents a problem. It has been discovered that withcarefully controlled temperatures and speeds, it is possible to bond theadjacent bonding layers together through the use of rotary laminationwithout applying heat to an extent which will cause any flow of theidentifying printing or the grid.

The objects of this invention are to provide a novel and improvedtamper-proof identification card and a method of making. such a card.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had byreferring to the following description and claims taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the identification card of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded sectional view of the card; and,

FIGURE 3 is a schematic showing of the card making apparatus and processof making cards.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, the card has a central paper core sheet10. The principal purposes of the central paper core sheet in thepresent card are to provide a background for the printed indicia and thephotograph, and to provide rigidity and body to the card. It will becomeapparent from the ensuing discussion that the paper core sheet can beeliminated under certain circumstances, but it is preferred that it bepresent. The paper core sheet 10 is relatively thin paper preferably ofabout 16 lbs. of weight. The paper is sandwiched between upper and lowerinner layers of a resin bonding material 11, 12, preferablypolyethylene.

Polyethylene is used herein in a broad sense. It is used in the contextof the definition set forth in The Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 6thedition, published 1961 by Reinhold Publishing Corporation, wherein thefirst paragraph of the definition reads as follows: polyethylene (C H),,polymerized ethylene, available in various forms, but the whiteleathery resinous form is by far the most common. Description: Ingeneral it is light weight, tasteless, odorless, and nontoxic. The lowmolecular weight polymers are high grade lubricating oils or oiladditives (see A-C polyethylenes). The medium weight polymers are waxymaterials miscible with paraffin. The high molecular weight materials(molecular weight greater than 6000) are tough White, leathery, resinousmaterials. The term polyethylene usually refers to the latter.Copolymers of polyethylene are also widely used and are sometimesreferred to as polyethylene even though it may comprise only 50% of thetotal material.

Identifying indicia is printed on the outer face 13 of the upper innerlayer 11. Further, indicia may be printed on outer face 14 of the lowerinner layer 12. An identifying photograph 15 will be adhered to the face13.

The inner layers 11, 12 and the paper core sheet 10 together comprise acore which is encased within a protective envelope or shell. Theenvelope includes upper and lower outer protective sheets 20, 21. Theprotective sheets are flexible, transparent, and tear resistant. Thepreferred material for these protective sheets is polyester film. Thepolyester film is a polyethylene glycol ester of terephthalic acid.Expressed another way, the polyester film is polymerized polyethyleneglycol ester. This material is sold commercially by the Du Pont Companyunder the trademark Mylar.

Mylar is outstanding for this protective purpose because of itstransparency, stability, tremendous tear resistance, high strength, longlife, and high degree of imperviousness. It is also outstanding for thispurpose because of its tendency to be substantially heat resistant suchthat if heated to the point where it will flow, the paper core andphotograph will tend to become charred. The encompassing envelope formedof these outer protective sheets provides an exterior shell which isextremely smooth. The outer sheets 20, 21 are bonded to the inner layers11, 12 by upper and lower outer bonding layers 23, 24 respectively. Theouter bonding layers 23, 24 should be of a material identical to theinner layers 11, 12 at least insofar as the melting point is concerned.

The surfaces 13, 14 are bonding surfaces as are inner surfaces 26, 27 ofouter layers 23, 24. The layers are bonded together at two spacedinterfaces located respectively by the surfaces 13, 26 and 14, 27. Thus,when the card is finished and the layers are bonded at the twointerfaces, printed and photo indicias are suspended within and encasedby the polyethylene material. With the printing so positioned, it ismaintained in its indicia providing position by the polyethylene. Anyheat applied to heat soften any bonding layer will heat soften all ofthem and cause the printing to flow. For this reason, it is impossibleto delaminate the card to remove the photograph without the printedindicia in the bonding layers flowing. The preferred form of thepolyethylene material for this purpose is a copolymer composed ofrelatively low density polyethylene having a density between 0.910 and0.929 gram per cubic centimeter with from 3% to 10% by weight acrylicacid added. The polyethylene is unmodified and has a melt index of from2 to 12. Polyethylene is preferred because it has the characteristics ofbeing thermoplastic, transparent, stable, capable of being heatedwithout noticeable degradation (i.e., inert) and cap-able of forming abond. The specific copolymer disclosed is preferred because it has beendiscovered to have outstanding properties for the process disclosed inthat it provides superior adhesion.

In the case of the layers 11, 12, the transparency is not essential andit could be colored. If the core polyethylene is colored, a single layercan be substituted for the two layers 11, 12 and the paper core 10. Ifthis paper is eliminated, a relatively high density polyethylene shouldbe used for card rigidity.

In the preferred arrangement, a grid-like pattern 25 is printed on innerface 26 of the upper outer layer 23. This grid pattern 25 is superposedover the photograph 15. It has been found that during the card formingoperation of this invention the printing tends to be transferred ontothe photograph so that the grid pattern cannot be removed with thebonding layer.

In the manufacture, the core is first formed. One manner of forming thecore is to continuously extrude layers of polyethylene on both faces ofa web of paper to form a core strip. The core strip thus formed can besevered into individual card cores identified by the numeral 30 inFIGURES 2 and 3. As suggested previously, the cores 30 are eachcom-posed of the paper core sheet 10 with the covering of polyethyleneand printed indicia on the covering.

Upper and lower coils 31 are mounted on suitable mandrels 32. Thesecoils are webs of a Mylar-polyethylene lamination. These webs are fed instrips 33 which form the outer sheets and layers 20, 21, 23, 24. Thestrips 33 and the cores 30 are fed between a pair of heated rotarylaminating rolls 35 which compress the core and strips together heatsoftening the polyethylene at the same time to effect a bond. Therollers are spring loaded and abutting when the device is not in use.The rollers are heated to about 250 to 325 preferably about 275. Thetemperature will vary according to the bonding material used and thespeed at which the plastic is fed. The rollers are rotated at a speedappropriate to feed the strips 33 and the sandwiched cores at a rate offrom about 2 to 4.5 feet per minute and preferably about inches perminute. Where the plastic has been preheated, speeds as high as 30 feetper minute can be obtained. After the cards have been laminated togetherby passing through the rolls, the cards are separated by suitablycutting the plastic between the spaced cores 30. The finished card has aboundary at 37 where the outer layers are adhered together to surroundthe core sheet 10.

In FIGURE 2, the dimensions of the sheets and layers, the photograph andthe paper core, are all greatly exaggerated. The thickness of the outerlayers varies according to the thickness of the Mylar sheets. Theselayers are preferably about 4 times as thick as the Mylar sheets. Theouter protective sheets 20, 21 are from 1 to 3 mils and preferably ofabout 1 or 2 mil thickness depending on the rigidity required. Forexample, a typical wallet card will have 1 mil outer sheets while atypical badge will have 2 mil sheets. The relatively heavy Mylar outersheets provide resistance to tampering, good wear resistance, and along-lived card.

As noted above, the grid 25 will flow if the card is heated. The grid 25provides an additional protection. If one seeking to tamper with thecard cuts the protective covering around the contour of the photographand lifts out the photograph, it is substantially impossible to returnthe photograph to place without the tampering being detected. The gridprovides this protection because it is substantially impossible for thetamp-ercr to align a forged grid with the original grid. Moreover,because the grid and other printing are suspended between layers of thepolyethylene bonding material, it is not possible to heat adhere acounterfeit photograph in place without causing the printing to flow.

If one attempts to bond a counterfeit photograph in place as by asolvent type adhesive, it is still possible to detect the substitutedcard because one cannot bond the severed Mylar together. If the severedseam of the Mylar is hidden by solvent adhesive or perhaps an adhesivehaving a melt index considerably below that of the polyethylene, it isstill possible to detect the forgery by flexing the card which causesthe Mylar to separate along the cut and expose the cut.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with acertain degree of particularity, it is understood that the presentdisclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of exampleand that numerous changes in the details of construction and thecombination and arrangement of parts may be restored to withoutdeparture from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafterclaimed.

I claim:

1. An identification card comprising:

(a) a core having spaced bonding surfaces, the core including a layer ofpolyethylene bonding material providing at least one of the core spacedbonding surfaces;

(b) an outer protective laminated envelope presenting an ex.eriorsurface shell formed of polyethylene glycol ester of terephthalic acid,and of polyethylene outer bonding material bonded to the exterior shell,the outer bonding material having bonding surfaces bonded to the bondingsurfaces of said core along spaced interfaces;

(c) identifying indicia applied to the one of the bonding surfaces at aninterface of polyethylene; and,

((1) said bonding material of said core and said envelope havingsubstantially identical melt indexes.

2. The core of claim 1 wherein the polyethylene has a melt index ofabout 2 to about 12.

3. The core of claim 2 wherein the melt index is about 5.

4. The card of claim 1 wherein the polyethylene bonding material is apolyethylene copolymer composed of polyethylene and 3% to 10% .by weightacrylic acid.

5. An identification card comprising:

(a) a core composed of a paper core sheet and first and second innerlayers of bonding material adhered to the faces of and substantiallycovering the core sheet;

(b) a photograph adhered to the first inner bonding layer andidentifying indicia on said first layer;

(c) an outer protective envelope composed of first and second outerprotective sheets of polyethylene glycol ester of terephthalic acid andfirst and second outer bonding layers of polyethylene adhering theprotective sheets to the inner layers; and,

(d) the polyethylene of said inner and outer layers being ofsubstantially identical chemical composition, and physical properties.

6. The card of claim 5 wherein a printed grid is carried by saidenvelope and superposed over the photo graph.

7. The card of claim 6 wherein said grid is printed on the inner surfaceof the first outer bonding layer.

8. The core of claim 5 wherein the polyethylene bonding material is apolyethylene copolymer composed of polyethylene and 3% to 10% by weightacrylic acid.

9. An identification card comprising:

(a) a core having spaced bondable surfaces, the core including a coresheet and a heat softenable core bonding material adhered to the sheetand providing at least one of the spaced bondable surfaces;

(b) an outer protective laminated envelope presenting an exteriorsurface shell and an outer heat softenable bonding material bonded tothe exterior shell, the bonding material having bonding surfaces bondedto the bondable surfaces of said core;

() identifying indicia in the form of printed ink on one of the surfacesat an interface of a bonding surface and a bondable surface defined vbysaid bonding material; and,

((1) said bonding material of said core and said enve- 6 lope havingsubstantially identical melt indexes. 10. The card of claim 9 whereinthe core sheet is coated on both of its faces by said core bondingmaterial.

11. A core for use in forming an identification card with an outerprotective laminated envelope presenting an exterior surface shell andheat softenable bonding material to adhere the envelope to the core,said core comprising:

(a) a core sheet of translucent material providing a background forprinted indicia and for providing rigidity and body to the core;

(b) first and second layers of polyethylene bonded to the oppositesurfaces of said core to provide a protective coating over the core anda bonding material to adhere the core to the protective envelope; and,

(c) printed indicia on at least one of said layers of polyethylene onthe outer surface thereof for providing identification information.

12. The core of claim 11 wherein said polyethylene has 20 a melt indexof from 2 to 12.

13. The core of claim 11 wherein the polyethylene bonding material is apolyethylene copolymer composed of polyethylene and 3% to by weightacrylic acid.

14. An identification card comprising:

(a) a core;

(b) identification indicia carried on the surface of the core;

(c) said indicia being protected against tampering alteration by aprotective laminated envelope presenting an exterior surface shellformed of polyethylene glycol ester of terephthalic acid;

(d) said laminated envelope incorporating bond material which isthermoplastic, stable, inert, and capable of forming a bond bonding saidexterior shell to the paper core;

(e) said bond material being a polyethylene copolymer of low densitypolyethylene having a density of from 0.910 to 0.929 gram per cubiccentimeter and from 3% to 10% acrylic acid by weight; and

(f) said bond material being located between said surface shell and saidcore and tightly adhering the envelope to both faces of said core.

5/1961 Hannon 402.2 10/ 1966 Rudershausen et a1. 402.2

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primaly Examiner.

W. l. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

